Ezekiel 23:34

34 You'll drink it dry, then smash it to bits and eat the pieces, and end up tearing at your breasts. I've given the word - Decree of God, the Master.

Ezekiel 23:34 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 23:34

Thou shalt even drink it, and suck it out
The very dregs of it, that which lies at the bottom, which is the most nauseous and the most pernicious; not through love to it, but through force, shall be obliged to it; see ( Psalms 75:8 ) : and thou shall break the sherds thereof;
and suck them, so that not a drop of the liquor shall be lost; even what has penetrated into the earthen vessel, which this cup is supposed to be; and therefore it shall be broken to pieces, and these pieces sucked, that all may be got out; suggesting that there will be no abatement of the punishment, it shall be endured to the utmost: or it may be an allusion to drunkards, who, having drunk up their liquor, and become drunk, break their glasses, pots, and cups, and to which the next clause agrees: and pluck off thine own breasts;
as men in their drunken fits, being like mad men, tear their own flesh; and so the Targum paraphrases it,

``thou shall tear thy flesh;''
so the Jews, under punishment for sin, and pressed with the guilt of it, through indignation at themselves should tear their flesh, and particularly pluck off their breasts: the allusion is to fornication, to which idolatry is compared, in which those parts are particularly affected; see ( Ezekiel 23:21 ) , the Syriac version renders this and the former clause thus, "thou shall shave thine hair and cut off thy breasts"; Kimchi thinks by the "breasts" are meant the oral and written laws, which ceased in the time of the captivity; but without any foundation: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord;
and therefore it shall be done.

Ezekiel 23:34 In-Context

32 "'This is the Message of God, the Master: "'You'll drink your sister's cup, a cup canyon-deep and ocean-wide. You'll be shunned and taunted as you drink from that cup, full to the brim.
33 You'll be falling-down-drunk and the tears will flow as you drink from that cup titanic with terror: It's the cup of your sister Samaria.
34 You'll drink it dry, then smash it to bits and eat the pieces, and end up tearing at your breasts. I've given the word - Decree of God, the Master.
35 "'Therefore God, the Master, says, Because you've forgotten all about me, pushing me into the background, you now must pay for what you've done - pay for your sluttish sex and whoring life.'"
36 Then God said to me, "Son of man, will you confront Oholah and Oholibah with what they've done? Make them face their outrageous obscenities
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.